Sutherland Stargazing

Sutherland is on the Roggeveld escarpment at about 1,450 metres, far from any city, with very dry air and almost no cloud - which is why the South African Astronomical Observatory put its instruments here, including SALT, the Southern African Large Telescope, whose eleven-metre segmented mirror makes it the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. Daytime tours go up to the site and into the SALT building; night tours are run separately with smaller visitor telescopes, because the research instruments are working and not available for looking through. The sky itself is the attraction and no telescope is required for it: the Milky Way here is bright enough to cast a suggestion of shadow, and the Magellanic Clouds are obvious. Sutherland is also the coldest town in South Africa, regularly below minus ten in winter, and it snows.

What you actually see

• SALT - an eleven-metre segmented mirror, the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.
• The night sky - a Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds visible without any instrument.
• The separation - day tours of the site, night tours through visitor telescopes.
• Real cold - the coldest town in the country, with snow in winter.

When to go

April to September for the longest darkest nights. A night, with the tour booked ahead.

Honest expectations

You do not look through SALT - night viewing uses smaller visitor scopes. Tours are cancelled for cloud and moon. Winter nights are brutally cold and the observatory is exposed. Sutherland has very limited accommodation and food, and it is a long drive from anywhere.

Nearby

The Tankwa Karoo lies west; Matjiesfontein is south on the N1.